7. Dental age assessment

The need to know the ages of unidentified asylum seekers, to make sure they are who they claim to be, is not only for the benefit of the hosting country. It is also to protect them from sexual abuse, being taken advantage of, and getting appropriate support. Chronological age can be estimated by determining physiological age, which is the age at which a developing system or organ reaches a specific stage. The human dentition develops over nearly a third of the average human life, with easily detected and predictable stages. Dental development can be divided into two main phases: tooth formation and tooth eruption. Good-quality radiographs should be attained for dental age assessment based on one of the following methods: pulp ratio and biomarkers. The International Organization for Forensic Odonto-Stomatology (IOFOS) gave recommendations for quality assurance in age estimation, and these are summarised in the chapter.